Note: The bears and bulls of the Stock Exchange, whose
interest it is, the one to depress, and the other to
raise, stocks, are said to be so called in allusion to
the bear's habit of pulling down, and the bull's of
tossing up.
[1913 Webster]

Bear-baiting — is a blood sport involving the baiting of bears.Bear baiting in EnglandBear baiting was popular in England until the nineteenth century. From the sixteenth century, many herds of bears were maintained for baiting. In its best known form, arenas… … Wikipedia